On the 2nd of October, I
received a Whatsapp message which read- “Dear Bapu, keep showering your
blessings upon us through 500 and 1000 rupee notes.” It got me thinking... is
this all that Gandhiji means to us today? An old, balding face benevolently
smiling at us from crisp banknotes? Or just one of the many figures from our
history textbooks? Quite disheartened, I decided to ask a few of my fellow
Nirmanees what Gandhi means to them and how he has helped them in their work.
“Gandhiji inspires me to be the
change.” replied Kalyan Tanksale, the Managing Director of Shakti Foundation.
The picture of Gandhiji on his work-desk has the well-known message “My life is
my message” written at the bottom, which has inspired him to make his life his
mission. He says, “In the past seven years I have experienced that when I
transform myself towards an even higher purpose, the tiny world around me
starts transforming. Gandhiji, then becomes the infinite treasure where I
search for 'that highest purpose' of my life.”
At
some point, Ganesh Birajdar realized that Gandhiji is one of the few people who
understood what the key problem of our time is; the problem being the
"centralization" of everything. This thought has had a great impact
on the way he thinks about social entrepreneurship and the world of tomorrow.
Now on his way to the Universidad de Buenos Aires in Brazil, where he’ll be
studying the People’s Movements round the globe, he says, Gandhi helped him
understand that decentralization at every possible level is the sole way towards
a more sustainable and exploitation-free society.
Amruta Pradhan, on the other hand, met Gandhi
through organisations like SEARCH, Chetna Vikas, Nirmalgram and Beeja
Vidyapeeth, who have personified the Mahatma’s thoughts into action. Observing
these people work for a social cause so efficiently and for so long gives her
the confidence to do it herself too! Currently working with South Asia Network
on Dams Rivers and People (SANDRAP), she says that Gandhiji’s Talisman
has become a beacon of light guiding her through life.
Gandhiji’s thought that, “for my material needs my
village is my world, but for my spiritual needs the whole world is my village”
has left a profound mark on Atul Gaikwad, who works with QUEST. The Mahatma’s
focus on purity of means and his tremendous clarity on the concept of truth
have motivated him to rethink his behaviour and lifestyle and have also changed
his approach towards doing things. He further says that, “while reading his
[Gandhi’s] writing, many a times I read as if I am arguing with him. I think he
is the only one leader who allows me to both follow him and criticize him.”
Tanmay
Joshi, who has just returned from Rome, having partaken in the Food and
Agriculture Organisation of UNO, says that Gandhi has given him the confidence
to see the "common" in the "Mahatma" and thereby, the
vision to see the "Mahatmas" in the "commons". This
epiphany (if you may call it so) simply raised every other person around him in
flesh & bone to the status of Mahatma and that, is the eternal source of
energy and optimism for him when he works. He also says, “my faith that there
is a Mahatma in everyone around me, including myself, refrains me from worrying
or burdening myself with the false and sometimes egoistic belief that the
weight of saving the world is on my shoulders.”
Well, to tell you the truth, it’s quite heartening and
reassuring to know that Gandhi means way more than
just a figure from textbooks and rupee bills! To me, the greatest quality of
the Mahatma is the fact that his whole life was an experiment in
self-improvement. He explored almost every facet of his own personality,
striving all the time to make himself a better person. I find his words a
remarkably clear way to think about my own life, my actions and their impact on
the society I live in. I believe that his teachings and experiments are
more valid today than ever before, especially when we are trying to find
solutions to worldwide greed, corruption, violence and a runaway consumptive
lifestyle which are putting a very heavy burden on the world’s resources.
This month, as we celebrated Bapu’s 146th
birth anniversary, I urge you all to reflect upon how Gandhiji may have
influenced you and helped you too...
Source: Kranti Doibale, krantid42@gmail.com
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